6 Weeks of Summer
by TIDTMI SchoolFics
Summary: Damn Will, and damn his stupid perfections. Damn Jem, and his stupid perfections. Damn 'mundanes'. In fact, damn anyone and everything. Mundane life is great. Why did summer have to change it all? MODERN DAY. Summer life for Tessa Gray isn't like it always was. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**MY FIRST FANFICTION, SO GIVE ME HINTS AND POINTERS!**

**Disclaimer: *laughs* I own the plot and the ability to make SilverCarstairs uncomfortable. It's a satisfactory feeling for both.**

**This is a prologue of sorts.**

* * *

**TID**

Stupid Will. Stupid Will with his stupid comebacks and his stupid smirk and his stupid ego and his perfect lips and his perfect eyes and his perfect body and his remarkable intelligence…

Damn.

Her holiday resolution broken _before_ school was over- try not to think about William Herondale or let his words matter.

Tessa sighed, ignoring the stupidly perfect boy with remarkable skill whom was right next to her. His blazer was off and his white shirt didn't leave much to the imagination. Even more so due to the fact it was wet due to the massive water fight most of the year had on the last day of school before the summer. His well-defined muscles were on display due to this, not that either he or the girls in the room were complaining.

He was laughing, a rare grin igniting his face that was filled not with cruelty but happiness. His eyes were lighter than the violent violet they usually were.

Wait, his eyes?

Oh crap. Tessa was staring again. She was staring right at Will. Who was staring back.

"Would you like a photo?" He asked crudely.

"Yes, I'd love to show the government who they should kill next." Tessa sighed. It was a terrible comeback and he was sure to remark on it.

He tilted his head, a grin forming to show his (_stupidly_, Tessa thought with triumph) perfect teeth. "Not up to your usual standards, Miss Gray."

"You weren't worth my efforts." She said dryly, glancing at the clock.

Under a minute until school was finished for 6 blissful weeks of rain, or mildly cool weather at best. It _was_ Britain, after all.

_Come on_, she thought.

The bell rang. Tessa was out of the door before Will managed to even think of something either highly explicit or insulting to say to her.

Bullying. It didn't help when the person bullying you was the guy was A) The guy you loved B) A _Herondale_, the most powerful family in the UK if you didn't count the monarchy C) _Incredibly_ hot.

Bam. Tessa was on the floor, a heeled shoe pressing on her hand as she was walked over. Tessa hauled herself to her feet, sighing. Great. Just great. Jessamine Lovelace. As if her day couldn't get any worse.

* * *

**TID**

…It could, apparently.

Tessa was lost, confused and annoyed.

She was lost. She was confused, the cause of her being lost. She was annoyed. How did she get lost? She walked this route every day, but she didn't recognise the row of expensive looking houses in the street she had wandered down.

_Right_, she thought, applying logic to the situation. _Turn around and walk the way you came_.

* * *

**TID**

This had been a failed endeavour. Tessa was now hopelessly lost and unable to ask for directions at a house due to the large security gates each one had.

Tessa grumbled. There wasn't even a street sign, so she couldn't call someone and get a lift home, or at least to a street she knew. "OH FOR GODS SAKE!" She cursed, flailing her arms about. This was not helping the situation. "WHY IS EVERY SINGLE BAD THING HAPPENING TO ME TODAY?!" She yelled, her anger coming in waves. "AND WHY DOES EVERY SINGLE BLOODY HOUSE HAVE A SECURITY GATE? Stupid-ass posh pricks with too much money and trust issues." She began to mutter, walking down the pavement and scuffing her uniformed black shoes along the pavement. She didn't even make two steps before she froze and turned red in embarrassment.

Leaning against the outside of a gate, polishing an apple on a grey shirt, was _the_ Jem Carstairs. _The_ being there for a reason. He was both royalty and the kindest person you could ever meet, plus he was as beautiful as Will was hot. And here he was, probably very much aware of her outburst. "I take it you're lost, Tessa." He said calmly, looking up as he took a bite of his apple, his silver eyes interested and amused. Oh, right, he also went to her school for some reason.

"How can you tell?" Tessa said dryly, wondering if she should curtsey, or address him as 'sir'. _Or_, a voice said to her, _perhaps you shouldn't be rude and sarcastic_.

He raised a fine, silvery eyebrow. "Well, you weren't exactly suffering in silence."

Tessa glared at him, before once again realising who she was talking too. "This may be an odd question, but where am I?"

He grinned. "You're currently down a _private_ road of which many people moved to because they don't like either _noise_ or _children_."

Tessa huffed, but turned red again. "I'm not a child."

Jem was looking down the road. "Debatable." He looked back to her.

"If I'm a child then that makes you one as well." Tessa said pointedly.

He grinned again. "Yes, but I don't act like one."

Tessa rolled her eyes, but he was being truthful. "Fair point. Have you even ever raised your voice?"

Jem opened his mouth to say something, before stepping to the side quickly, just as Will jumped to the place Jem had been previously standing. "Nice try." He said to Will.

Tessa blinked.

Will pulled a face. He looked away from Jem and saw Tessa. "Hello, Miss Gray."

Tessa, once again, rolled her eyes. "Hello, Mr Herondale." She said, copying the formality in his tone with added sarcasm.

He made a tutting sound. "I was just being polite, there's no need to make a mockery out of it."

"Who are you and what have you done to William Herondale?" Tessa asked.

Jem was fighting a grin at her words.

"My name's Tessa Gray. I kidnapped Will, the love of my life, and locked him in my room, bound with duck-tape." Will said in high-pitched voice, flipping imaginary hair over his shoulder.

"Don't you mean duct-tape?" Tessa asked.

Will raised a dark eyebrow, his tone normal again when he next spoke. "Certainly not. Ducks are-"

Jem was quick to interrupt. "Tessa, if you keep walking that way-" He gestured in the direction. "-Then you'll come to Stanley road. I'm sure you know how to get on your way from there."

Tessa didn't know, but she thanked him and set off down the road. She went to call her brother, hoping he could pick her up.

* * *

**Yes, I will continue this, in time. I'll say give it a week. Possibly less. I'll try and be regular with my updates, but people who have an update schedule and stick to it are supernatural. I'm just a mundane!**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Doc manager is glitching up. Anyone else with this problem**?

**I'm sorry about how short this chapter is, but I'll update really soon; before Friday! Thanks to y'all who reviewed!**

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Tessa rolled off her bed, of which she had just collapsed on, with an annoyed 'oof', going to her dresser to get her phone, which was ringing shrilly. "_A duck walked up to a lemonade stand and he said to the man, running the stand! Hey! (bom bom bom) got any… grapes_?" Tessa really ought to change the ring tone on that. The duck song? Geez, this was 2014.

"Sophie?" Tessa said into the phone, vaguely registering the caller ID. "You will not believe what happened before-"

"Hang on." Sophie interrupted. "This is more important. What are you wearing for the coach tomorrow?"

"Wha…?" Tessa began, before she suddenly realised. The school trip to Yorkshire.

There were two problems with this. One- She hadn't even packed and had forgotten all about it. Two- Yorkshire. What exciting things were there to do in Yorkshire? Wait, correction; the _Yorkshire Dales_. Two weeks looking at sheep and walking through fields, seeing waterfalls every now and then.*

Guaranteed 100% _fun_.

"Um…" Tessa continued. "Sweats and a T-shirt, probably with converse." She noted with a shrug.

"Tessa…" Sophie groaned. "Jem's coming on this trip."

"Ooh!" Tessa put on a high-pitched, enthusiastic voice. "My Chanel boots and Gucci pants and-"

"Shut up." Sophie snapped, before bursting into laughter. "No, help me out here, _please_!"

Tessa sighed, but was secretly thrilled she'd been Sophie's first choice, it was usually Magnus they called for these events. "Skype?" She suggested. "We can get Magnus in on this as well."

Sophie said a far-away agreement. Tessa snorted. Her friend was probably emptying out her whole closet to find something perfect.

…To say Sophie had a minor crush on Jem would be under-exaggerating. It's like saying that New York is a _village_, that Tessa _liked_ reading. It just didn't happen.**

* * *

***I am not stereotyping. I live in the Dales, and there are only so many times you can do 'the Ingleton falls walk'. Sheep, fields, pubs, Campsites, dry stone walls and waterfalls. That's all there is (where I live, anyway.) Most exciting, village-changing thing that's happened this week? The bakery did a new type of cake instead of the cheesecake. A friend of mine, (hola, El!) hates change, she literally had a fit once we got outside the shop. Fun times. :D**

**** Yes, this fic will have Sideon, but it says in TID that Sophie liked Jem, and I'm not ignoring that!**

**Anyway, I got off topic! R&R, and I'll try to update soon. I'm striving for Friday!**


	3. I say I update on Friday then I UPDATE!

**I own the plot, nothing else is mine unless otherwise stated.**

**AHA! SEE! I said Friday! Oh YEAH!**

* * *

The night air was chilling. The students of Tessa's year where all standing by the various coaches, waiting for the few remaining students to turn up. Tessa was chatting with Sophie (for Magnus hadn't arrived yet), and others were talking to their friends (un?)enthusiastically about the trip. The groups of students all turned at the flashy, electric blue Mercedes that pulled up. A man got out the driver's seat, went to the boot and got out a suitcase. He then walked over stiffly to one of the back doors, quickly changed the look of loathing on his face to a fake smile, and opened the door. Will, rather unsurprisingly, was the one to exit the car from the back seat, taking the case from the man and going to stand over with Gideon and Gabriel, not giving the man another glance or even a thank-you.

Spoiled brat, Tessa thought angrily as Will's case whacked her on the heel, realising the man must have been a chauffeur, or something along those lines. She went to express her thought to Sophie, who was standing right beside her, before sighing in annoyance. Sophie disliked Will, but wouldn't say a word against him, or a word to him that was disrespectful.

Sure enough, her friend had only sighed.

"Come on, Sophie, I know you want to say _something_ about him." Tessa coaxed.

"Only that it isn't his fault he's like that. Think of Dudley in Harry Potter. A brat who only acted like that because his parents turned the other way to his bullying and spoiled him rotten." She pointed to Will. "More athletic and better-looking Dudley, right there."

Tessa physically couldn't find an argument against it, before one crept into her mind. "Not really." She argued. "Look at Gideon and Gabriel. They're from the same family, but Gabriel acts like Will and Gideon acts a look nicer."

"He just doesn't talk." Sophie said, the smallest of blushes creeping up onto her face. "But that is a fair point."

Mrs Branwell then called (loudly at that) for everyone to get with their 'assigned group' to see who was here and who wasn't. Tessa saw Magnus just arriving, his height making him easy to make out. She smirked. "Look at Magnus."

Sophie did, and she grinned, too. Magnus had his usual purple eyeliner and cat-eyed contacts, which he didn't wear in school as it was 'against policy'. Now school wasn't in, Tessa would've thought he'd have gone all out.

"Oh my god." Sophie said, the grin sliding off her face. "I see what you mean."

"Wait…?" Tessa began, looking again.

Magnus, Will and Jem (who'd just arrived) were standing and laughing as a group, Magnus just coming out of a high-five with Will. "I would have thought they'd-"

"Everyone in their groups, NOW!" Mrs Branwell demanded.

This time, everyone obliged, Sophie disappearing into the crowd.

**TID**

Everyone was signed in, cases were put in their racks and people were boarding the coach. Sophie had demanded the window seat and Tessa had obliged. She was sat in the aisle seat, watching other people scurry to get good seats, the most interesting conversation being the one to Tessa's right, with the three-rowed seats. Magnus had happily gone in by the window, and, after winking at Tessa, watched the 'argument' going between Jem and Will.

"Get in." Jem said lightly.

Will raised a dark eyebrow. "I need the leg room!" He objected.

Jem snorted and shoved Will lightly into the middle seat. "I'm taller."

"By about an inch." Will muttered.

"An inch is an inch." Magnus spoke up, resulting in Will's glare and Jem's laughter.

Will's next words, however, shut Jem up. "There's Charlotte. Weren't you going to talk to her about…?" He trailed off and Jem's face darkened.

Jem walked over to the teacher with his usual grace, a polite smile twisting onto his lips when he neared Mrs Branwell.

Will was quick to seize the seat, earning a mocking 'tut' from Magnus and a laugh, but a glare from Tessa.

Will felt the eyes on his back and turned around. "Either take a photo or quit staring." He snapped.

Tessa raised an eyebrow. Will was never usually so harsh straight away, he'd even usually be quite pleasant. "What's the matter with you?" Tessa shot back. "Throwing a tantrum because you're not on a private coach and have to mingle with '_common_ _people'_?"

A smirk twisted its way onto Will's face, cold and cruel. "That reminds me. _Miss Collins_?" Will asked, putting a superior and arrogant tone in his voice. That wasn't new, but Tessa didn't like the way he spoke Sophie's surname, who had jumped and paled, turning to Will with a look of apprehension on her face.

"Yes?" She asked, licking her lips nervously.

He tilted his head slightly, his smirk broadening. "My father had this written for you. It is apparently, and I quote, 'a matter of great importance concerning this journey'." He gave a wink. "I have no idea what it's about." He passed it to Tessa to pass to Sophie.

Tessa looked quickly at the card envelope.

**_Sophia _****_Collins._**

Sophie turned it over. "The seal's broken."

Tessa glanced at it curiously. The navy-black (not red) wax seal was indeed broken.

Will raised an eyebrow. "Of course it is. It has to be so the letter can be read."

Sophie gritted her teeth. "You read it?"

Will's eyes flashed. "No. _You_ read it. _I_ delivered the letter." He tilted his head again. "Why would I disobey my Father?"

"Why would you obey him is the real question." Sophie murmured.

Will leaned forwards, but Magnus grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Will." Came Magnus', and Jem's (who had just returned), exasperated sigh.

Will shrugged and moved his legs back so Jem could sit in the middle seat. Jem simply gave a small smile and sat down, saying something quietly as he did so.

Tessa turned at the sound of tearing paper, to see Sophie violently shredding the paper. "_Cad-like bastards who think their superior because they've got money and power and a surname that's apparently important."_ Sophie muttered.

"We don't think we're superior, Sophia, we _are_." Will said lazily.

"I know people with none of that worth ten of you, or people who use their power for the good of others." Sophie spat.

Will smirked. "Name one."

"The boy right next to you." Sophie said immediately.

Will's eyebrows shot up. "Really? None of that? Jem, do you have wealth and a powerful place in society?" Will asked Jem, who turned around.

"I can't say I don't." Jem said with a thoughtful frown. "Pray tell me what spontaneous thought brought on that question, Will?"

Will's eyes flicked to Sophie's furious face and back to Jem. Jem sighed, said something to Will in another language (who of course objected) and turned back to Magnus.

"I was referring to the second explanation." Sophie said with gritted teeth.

Will smirked. "Then name one for the first, or name a second person for the explanation that conveniently fit the Carstairs'."

Sophie huffed and looked out of the window. Tessa shot him a glare as Will's smirk broadened and he took out his phone.

**TID**

* * *

**Three things:**

**-Sophie is OOC with Will for a reason, which'll be explained in later chapters.**

**-Will is a douche because of reasons explained in later chapters. He was, however, only being a prat to Sophie, which you probably noticed, and Tessa because he was in a sour mood.**

**-THANK'S TO Y'ALL WHO (faved/followed and) REVIEWED, BUT COME ON, YOU CAN ALL DO BETTER THAN THAT!**

**I don't want to be a 10 reviews and I'll post a chapter type of person, but PLEEEEAAASSSEEEE! I know I'm a new FF author and I know this story could get better, but I don't know how, and THAT's what reviews are for! For y'all to tell me HOW to get better!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who followed/favourited/reviewed, and especially thanks to midnightintheashes- I agree with you and I'm trying to reduce the number of brackets in my work! And also- the relationship between Will and Tessa was that they tolerated each other, with Tessa secretly in love with him, but with the way he treats Sophie it really angers her.**

**This is a Jessa+Wessa fic, though!**

* * *

"Suitcases are the most complicated thing anyone could design." Tessa huffed, pulling her case up the flight of stairs.

Sophie had opted to carry hers instead of drag it, but its weight meant she was going no faster than Tessa. "Perhaps we should have taken the lift." Sophie agreed.

Tessa gave her friend a glare. Sophie had been adamant that the two of them were not taking the old elevator in the old-fashioned, Victorian-seeming lobby.

"I think… I think I can see the top!" Tessa heard someone say to their friends dramatically, making Tessa and Sophie laugh.

Tessa formed a new glare to Jem and Will's backs, as they overtook her and bounded up the stairs two at a time with ease.

"What's our room number again?" Tessa asked Sophie.

"338." Her friend replied breathlessly as they reached the final stair and tugged their cases down the hall, feeling relieved they weren't the students who had to go up another floor.

Magnus, who had been uncharacteristically quiet for the mount, finally spoke. "I heard the teachers decided to put two boys and two girls in each room."

Sophie took a ragged breath in and out and Tessa cursed, hoping she would get tolerable people like Julian, Alec, Simon, Jordan, Gideon, or hopefully even Magnus. Every person had picked a partner, so at least Tessa had Sophie in a room with her. Magnus had already told the girls he was going with Alec and was 'besties' with almost every girl in the year. As he was openly bisexual and girls flocked to him for makeup, fashion, and boy advice. Tessa and Sophie weren't concerned about the girls Magnus was put with; the whole female population of the school shipped 'Malec'.

"Damn." Tessa said. "Why the hell would they do that? We're teenagers and some girls might only be sleeping in underwear!"

Magnus shrugged. "I'm pitying Jem. He'll probably be exiled from his room while Will is with one of the girls sharing the room every night."

Jem, just up the corridor with Will, turned around at his name, before giving a small smile and resuming to count the door numbers.

Magnus stopped. "That's me." He said, jerking his head towards room 330.

The girls said by and that they'd come round later and walked down the corridor, Sophie a pale colour.

"You alright?" Tessa asked her.

"I could be a whole lot better." Sophie confessed, stopping outside door 337, looking opposite the door to room 338, which Will was currently attempting to unlock.

"I'm telling you, it won't unlock." Will said to Jem, who was giving a small smirk.

"And I'm telling you to turn the card the other way, but you won't." Jem replied, his voice as calm as always.

Muttering in Welsh, Will took out the card and inserted it the other way. The door clicked open.

"Shut up." Will said quietly to a laughing Jem.

"I-" Jem began as the two of them entered the room and Tessa and Sophie stepped forwards and was cut off by a loud-

"WILL!"

Tessa winced at the high-pitched squeak.

She saw Will take a step back as a blond, pink, skimpy-clothed, high-heeled girl threw herself at him. He pulled her away. "What the hell are you doing, Jessie?" He asked.

She gave a giggle. "I'm your roommate."

Will smirked. "I know for a fact you're not. I know you're with Camille and Tatiana and that you don't _have_ a boy in your room. However, I do happen to know that Jem, Sophie and Tessa _are_ my roommates." He walked farther into the room, leaving an angry Jessamine to storm out, glaring at Sophie as she did so.

"You have to give her points for trying." Jem said simply to Will, who snorted.

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, she got into the room." Jem explained. "That's impressive."

Will started to reply, before he saw Sophie and gave a cold smirk.

Tessa was impressed with the room layout. There were four single beds opposite the door, which was between two wardrobes and two dressers. The floor was a simple cream carpet and the walls a beige-colour. The room was a rectangle and the windows by the beds looked out to the front of the hotel, showing bright green grounds with trees, flowers and fountains. There were empty bookcases by the first bed and the fourth.

Sophie had paled slightly at the smirk. Will turned away and dropped his case on the first bed, Jem putting his on the floor by the second bed.

"We should go see who Gabriel and Gideon got." Will said to Jem.

"Magnus and Alec. I already asked." Jem told Will, unzipping his case.

"_You're_ _unpacking_?" Will asked incredulously.

Jem looked up sharply and said something coolly in French to Will.

Tessa was about to ask Sophie which bed she wanted, when Will interrupted. "Sophie?" Will asked with a false sweetness in his voice and a fake smile on his face. "Did you read the letter?"

"Yes." Sophie said and gave a small sigh.

"Great." Will said, before looking to Jem. "At least come look around with me?"

Jem agreed and stood, already at the door when Will turned to Sophie.

"Unpack my case for me, will you?" He asked Sophie with a wink, who gave him a cold glare. Neither Jem nor Sophie particularly reacted to Will's question.

Tessa, however, was outraged. "Who the _hell_ do you think you are to order her around?"

Jem sighed and leaned against the doorway. Sophie shot Will a wide-eyed look. Will just smirked and took a step closer to Tessa. "Last time I checked, I'm a _Herondale-_" He told her.

"Big deal. Jem's…" She inwardly cursed herself for not remembering Jem's title. His father was a Duke, but what did that make Jem? "Royalty of some sort." She finished lamely.

Jem looked to Sophie and gave a small smile, his lips momentarily twitching upwards. Sophie looked away and back to her shoes.

"If you'd have let me finished, Miss _Gray_, you'd have figured out the _exact_ reason I can order Sophie around." Will said simply. "However, as you were rude enough to interrupt me—"

"Will." Jem said, detaching himself from the doorway and interrupting Will for his own amusement and Will's annoyance. "_Perhaps_ we should go look around?"

"You mean you haven't been here before?" Will asked Jem.

"Yorkshire Dales? Yes. You'll love it- nothing here but sheep and hills. But this hotel, which is what I was talking about? No, I can't say I have." Jem informed him.

Will's face was suddenly concerned and caring, a look Tessa had never seen before.

"Do you need your-" He began, though he was cut off by a rather forceful answer from Jem.

"_No_." Jem said firmly. "I… I mean…" He sighed. "No thank-you. I can walk perfectly fine, though thank-you for inquiring." He opened the door and was quick to walk out of it.

"It's unnatural to be that polite!" Will called, out of the door in a flash, banging it shut behind him.

"This is going to be fun." Tessa said sarcastically.

Sophie sank down onto the third bed, leaving the forth to Tessa. "_I hate him_." Sophie muttered. "_He deserves to be deported back to Wales and_-"

"He hasn't done anything illegal." Tessa said. "It's not like he's low enough to stoop to drugs."

Sophie tensed. "Not all people who take drugs are bad, Tessa. I mean… medicine is a form of drug."

"I know that, I was talking about-"

"And even if it's something illegal or addictive, they could have been forced into it or they could be dependent on it or…" She faltered. "Sorry." She apologised.

"It's fine." Tessa said, confused. "Look, why does Will treat you like that?" She asked.

At her words, Sophie jumped up off the bed and to Will's case, hurriedly unzipping it. "Because he has every right to." She said shortly.

Tessa could tell that this was a topic her friend didn't want to discuss and quickly brought up a new subject. "Did you watch the new Barely Political parody?" She asked.

Her friend frowned. "The Timber one?"

"No, they did one for Can't Remember to Forget You." Tessa informed.

Sophie smiled. "See if the Hotel has Wi-Fi, we'll watch it."

Tessa nodded, watching the smile flicker from her friends face and the annoyance and fear settle back into her eyes.

Sophie was one of the; most athletic, smartest, talented and beautiful girls in the year. In fact, Tessa was envious of her beauty. With her hazel eyes, slim figure, creamy, flawless skin and chocolate brown hair, she was beautiful. Tessa's hair was a lighter, ugly brown. Her skin was colourless, she was an average size ten and her eyes were a drab grey. Yet she was more liked than all the 'poplar's' than Sophie.

It was only Gideon and Jem that treated Sophie with kindness. Will, Jessamine Lovelace and Tatiana Lightwood were horrible to her. Cecily Herondale and Gabriel Lightwood were polite, but Gabriel treated her as he did anyone who wasn't a friend, and Cecily often asked Sophie to do things for her.

Tessa frowned as she realised that last part. Why did Cecily and Will order Sophie around? Tessa thought many things about Cecily, but Tessa hadn't ever thought of her to be one who puts people below her.

Tessa's hands balled. She was going to murder William Herondale. No matter his place in society, he had no right to treat people like he did, _especially_ her best friend.


	5. Chapter 5

**What's my excuse for the lack-of-update?**

**…Er… well. I actually don't have one. Oops. But hey, it's the Easter Holidays, or SPRING BREAK! As most Americans probably would not say. I've watched too many American films.**

**ANYWAY! Enjoy the update!**

* * *

Tessa glared at Will as he entered the room, Jem quiet and graceful behind him, opposite to Will's stressed and annoyed manner. Will slammed the door and Sophie jumped at the sound, as she previously hadn't noticed the boys enter.

"Bloodthirsty little beasts, I tell you. Horrible, murderous, despicable—" Will was spitting to Jem.

"I like ducks." Came Jem's simple and light reply. He seemed as content as usual, though was paler than his usual pallor—which was very pale indeed. He sat calmly onto his bed and began unlacing his black shoes.

Tessa smiled, her glare gone, as an image of Jem wearing a tracksuit and trainers appeared in her mind. No; the shirts and jackets suited him.

…Though Will wasn't dressed as she'd have imagined. She'd have imagined old, wrinkled, thrown-together clothes. Not something as well-put-together as this. He was wearing a long-sleeved navy t-shirt, ironed crisply, black, new jeans, and a smart black leather jacket, which he was now removing. His shoes were the only scruffy item he was wearing, battered and well-worn combat boots.

Jem gave the two girls a warm smile, though Will completely ignored them, throwing himself onto his bed and supporting his head with his hands he had laced together.

Jem gave a small tut and twisted his torso around so he could face Will, who sighed and kicked his shoes off, an impressive achievement considering they were boots, and muttered something in a European language.

Jem gave a small smile as he retrieved his case. "Oh, I'm sorry, Will, but what was that?" He asked, neatly lifting up clothes and moving aside what looked like a long, dark green stick, to get out a large folder.

Will scowled and sat up slowly. "French." He said simply.

Jem grinned. "So you _have_ been learning what you call an '_unnecessary'_ language?"

"A fair few phrases." Will said with a shrug.

"And may I ask why you have suddenly began paying attention to my tutoring?" Jem asked.

_My_ _tutoring_? Tessa thought. No way. Did Will have _Jem_ as a tutor? That was so not fair. He didn't give a damn about class and skipped almost every lesson, yet he had the smartest kid in school tutoring him. Figures. Whilst Tessa was cramming for a test days in advance, Will would saunter in with no knowledge of the test and get over 90%, always top of the class unless Jem was in.

Tessa went to talk to Sophie, before realising her friend had gone to the bathroom.

"In the event I wake up with a splitting hangover in a hotel in Paris with no memory of the night before, except I know that I must somehow return home?" Will suggested with a sigh, catching the folder Jem threw to him.

Jem gave an exasperated tut. "Being _trilingual_ isn't enough for your father?" Jem said bitterly, annoyed and exasperated.

Will cast a glance at Tessa, before looking at his hands. "You know eight languages fluently and can read and write the holy languages you don't speak. I may as well not speak English in my father's eyes."

Tessa frowned. Will's voice had been softer, with sadness Tessa was not used to.

"So I can speak a variety of languages." Jem said. "Last time I checked, Shadowhunters aren't all about how many languages you can speak."

_Shadowhunters_? Tessa thought.

Sophie came out of the bathroom and Tessa was incredibly relieved. They began to talk and Jem went over to Will's bed and the two lay on their stomachs, the folder in front of them. Will was writing and Jem was correcting him every now and then—the two of them talking in French.

* * *

At the knock on the door, Tessa got up to open it, to reveal Headmistress Branwell. She gave a small smile to Tessa. "I was just coming around to tell you all that the dining hall is open to our year now." She looked to Jem and Will. "Will you two be joining the _rest of the year_?" She added emphasis and persuasion in her words, her eyes hopeful.

"I'll decline, thank-you." Jem said. "Will, however, shall be going."

Will, of course, objected. "If you don't go I don't go."

Jem sighed, as did Mrs Branwell. "I'll have something sent up." She said.

Jem opened her mouth to thank her, before—

"For the _both_ of you." She finished. "Your eating habits, or lack of them, may be alright with your parents, James, but _not with me_."

Jem raised his chin slightly, his eyes defiant. "Yes, I'll be sure to enjoy whatever meal you force me to eat." His eyes hardened slightly. "I'm sure it'll be even more enjoyable when I bring it up later." His tone was cool.

Tessa was shocked. She'd never heard Jem speak in a tone that was not exasperated, amused or content. This cold, sarcastic Jem was new, and not a Jem she liked.

The Headteacher sighed and exited the room.

Will sighed. "She's only worried for you."

"As a mother is for a child." Jem said, his tone still cool as he got off Will's bed. "If you haven't noticed, she is not my mother and—"

"You're still a child." Will said, looking like he was bracing himself.

"BUT I'M SICK OF PEOPLE TREATING ME LIKE ONE!" Jem suddenly yelled, his voice loud in the silent and uneasy atmosphere.

Tessa and Sophie flinched. Neither of them had heard Jem raise his voice. He didn't even look capable of anger, yet here he was, shaking.

Will, however, had become nothing but determined. He swung himself off his bed fluidly and faced Jem, nothing but Jem's bed separating them. Tessa knew Will would be in Jem's face if not for the bed.

"Like it or not, James, people will treat you like a child until you are eighteen." He said venomously.

"When I'll be nothing but scattered ashes over a flower field." Jem said with the same tone Will had.

Will growled something that sounded like 'stubborn bastard' under his breath, which made Jem's eyes flash as Will turned away from him.

"You're one to talk." Jem said cruelly.

Will whipped around, fury in his eyes and visible in his set jaw and ready stance.

"BY THE ANGEL." Sophie said loudly, though she had not yelled. "I've known you both for _ten_ _years_ and yet it's only the first time you've raised your voices to each other and the second time you've argued. _Look_ _at you two_! Two minutes ago you were plotting the demise of ducks in French and now you're acting like…" She trailed off and shook her head, her voice quieting. "You're meant to be there for each other. Whither thou goest I willst go, and all that. What happened to that?" She turned to Will. "I once asked you what _Parabatai_ meant. You gave me the definition and the oath. When I asked what it meant to you, you told me it was being one person in two bodies. It doesn't look like it now." She finished her grand speech by stalking out of the room to dinner.

Will gave Tessa a weak, crooked smile. "This is the part where you follow her so that Jem and I can give each other heartfelt speeches of apology and undeserved forgiveness so that we can forgive each other." Will explained.

Tessa shot him a glare. "What is _Parabatai_, anyway?" She asked.

"A stronger version of a best friend." Jem said, his voice suddenly weak and tired. His carefully carried posture drooped slightly.

"So me and Sophie…?" Tessa began.

"No." Jem said with a small yawn. "Me and Will, Alec and Jace, Julian and Emma. We're Parabatai." His explanation was short and lazy, he was suddenly incredibly drowsy-sounding, although he was careful to keep his eyes sharp and awake.

"Oh." Tessa said, leaving the room to follow Sophie. As she left, she caught a short comment from Will.

"You need to take it. Now."

She frowned and ran off after Sophie's retreating silhouette.


End file.
